1. Subscriberinvigorate
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    07 Nov '05 16:04
    I had a lovely baby girl in the spring. I'm not religious however I live in the Uk, nominally a "christian" country.

    What would you advise in regard to religious teaching. My aunt wanted to buy her a copy of "my first bible" which was a bit scary.

    We have decided not to feed her meat or fish her meat until she is old enough to decide whether she wants to eat animals.

    Is it feasible not feed her any religious doctorine until she's old enough to decide for herself?
  2. Joined
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    07 Nov '05 16:09
    Originally posted by invigorate
    I had a lovely baby girl in the spring. I'm not religious however I live in the Uk, nominally a "christian" country.

    What would you advise in regard to religious teaching. My aunt wanted to buy her a copy of "my first bible" which was a bit scary.

    We have decided not to feed her meat or fish her meat until she is old enough to decide whether s ...[text shortened]... it feasible not feed her any religious doctorine until she's old enough to decide for herself?
    Certainly, since you are obviously not heavily indoctrinated, it should be of no matter to allow your child to develop her own sense of spirituality. Guiding her on the generic values of how to be a good human being are of primary importance.
  3. London
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    07 Nov '05 16:111 edit
    Originally posted by invigorate
    I had a lovely baby girl in the spring. I'm not religious however I live in the Uk, nominally a "christian" country.

    What would you advise in regard to religious teaching. My aunt wanted to buy her a copy of "my first bible" which was a bit scary.

    We have decided not to feed her meat or fish her meat until she is old enough to decide whether s ...[text shortened]... it feasible not feed her any religious doctorine until she's old enough to decide for herself?
    Can you maintain neutrality about religion vs. non-religion and between religions so you don't bias your child one way or another?
  4. Subscriberinvigorate
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    07 Nov '05 16:15
    Originally posted by lucifershammer
    Are you going to feed her anti-religious doctrine in the meanwhile? Can you maintain neutrality about religion vs. non-religion and between religions so you don't bias your child one way or another?
    I may be rude about the quality of the singing in the congregation of the church opposite.

    It is my intention to avoid religion unless directly asked. I would like to base my answers on fact. But already we are stumbling on some problems as facts and religion are somewhat blurred.

    I certainly don't want her to be scared of some Holy Ghost!
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    07 Nov '05 16:17
    Originally posted by invigorate
    I may be rude about the quality of the singing in the congregation of the church opposite.

    It is my intention to avoid religion unless directly asked. I would like to base my answers on fact. But already we are stumbling on some problems as facts and religion are somewhat blurred.

    I certainly don't want her to be scared of some Holy Ghost!
    How old do you think your child will need to be to make up her own mind?
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    07 Nov '05 16:19
    Originally posted by lucifershammer
    How old do you think your child will need to be to make up her own mind?
    Surely at every age in which she considers the question. As she gets older she may or may not change her mind based on new experiences.
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    07 Nov '05 16:19
    Originally posted by lucifershammer
    Can you maintain neutrality about religion vs. non-religion and between religions so you don't bias your child one way or another?
    And if you cannot?
  8. Standard memberDoctorScribbles
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    07 Nov '05 16:261 edit
    Originally posted by lucifershammer
    Can you maintain neutrality about religion vs. non-religion and between religions so you don't bias your child one way or another?
    Should he?

    Can you? Should you?
  9. Standard memberXanthosNZ
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    07 Nov '05 16:271 edit
    Teach the scientific method as soon as you can. The rest will follow.

    Of course this means you can't go making up Santa and the Easter Bunny either.
  10. Standard memberPalynka
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    07 Nov '05 16:29
    Originally posted by invigorate
    I had a lovely baby girl in the spring. I'm not religious however I live in the Uk, nominally a "christian" country.

    What would you advise in regard to religious teaching. My aunt wanted to buy her a copy of "my first bible" which was a bit scary.

    We have decided not to feed her meat or fish her meat until she is old enough to decide whether s ...[text shortened]... it feasible not feed her any religious doctorine until she's old enough to decide for herself?
    Your example comparing (in a sense) religion with vegetarianism strikes me as a bit odd. Will she be able to eat meat afterwards after (say) 15 years of vegetarianism?

    You may incur in a different problem with religion if you abstain from "feeding" her a doctrine. I would explain things naturally as they come, if my children decide to be atheists, like me, I would even consider it a positive education (considering my perspective).

    The key idea is not "feeding" her, but informing her. There's no such thing as a perfect neutrality but absence of information can be even worse...

    Anyway, my basic idea is that you don't necessarily have to brainwash when you educate.
  11. Standard memberDoctorScribbles
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    07 Nov '05 16:29
    Originally posted by XanthosNZ
    Teach the scientific method as soon as you can. The rest will follow.

    Of course this means you can't go making up Santa and the Easter Bunny either.
    "Pull my finger" is a good introduction to hypothesis and experiment.
  12. Gangster Land
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    07 Nov '05 16:30
    Holy Cow this makes me crazy. I do not have kids of my own so some of you will dismiss me out of hand but I was a kid not long ago and feel I can speak with modest authority on this subject.

    Look, you are her father, tell her what you believe and for God's sake don't hide your opinions about things from her. If you are Catholic take her to mass, if you are agnostic explain it to her when she asks, if you worship Satan tell her about your love of Satan, if you ware clogs...well, just stop.

    Parents seem to think they need to hide their beliefs from their kids in order to not "bias" them against one thing or another and it is totally unnecessary. Teach your daughter to think, man. Place value on critical thinking in your family and when she is ready she will be questioning even your most fervently held beliefs.

    Parents seem to think they will be the only influence on their kid for all eternity and it just isn't so. She will meet tons of Christians and Jews and hippies and yuppies over the course of her life and if you raise her right she will be curious about all of them. If you raise her right she will think critically about all of them. if you raise her right she will know that you love her whether she believes the same things you do or not.

    My parents raised me as a staunch conservative Baptist but they also taught me to think for myself and now I'm a yellow dog democrat with a severe distrust of religion. Was it easy to get from where I started to where I am now? No...but should it have been? I would not change a thing.

    TheSkipper
  13. London
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    07 Nov '05 16:39
    Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
    Should he?

    Can you? Should you?
    If he wants his daughter to make an unbiased decision , then yes.

    No. No.
  14. London
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    07 Nov '05 16:41
    Originally posted by Starrman
    And if you cannot?
    Then you shouldn't worry about "feeding" her doctrine. Just bring her up under whatever beliefs you hold but keep her well-informed about other beliefs.
  15. Standard memberJoe Fist
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    08 Nov '05 14:55
    Originally posted by invigorate
    I had a lovely baby girl in the spring. I'm not religious however I live in the Uk, nominally a "christian" country.

    What would you advise in regard to religious teaching. My aunt wanted to buy her a copy of "my first bible" which was a bit scary.

    We have decided not to feed her meat or fish her meat until she is old enough to decide whether s ...[text shortened]... it feasible not feed her any religious doctorine until she's old enough to decide for herself?
    Congrats and I am going through a similiar situation now with my two plus year old daughter although not really yet.

    I am Agnostic as my wife is and I used to be a hardcore Christian/Catholic basher. Although I still don't believe in those religions as well as any other, I have softened up a bit and I do have some very good religious friends.

    All life is about for my kid is Barney, Care Bears, and Dora the Explorer but I am sure religion is coming. I think my wife and I are going to try our best to help her sort things out for herself even though she may not be fully mentally equipped to do so yet. I am sure your daughter will amaze you with how smart she is.

    I also say, so that she is not an outcast, that perhaps she should just "go with the flow" of things for now until you are satisfied that she can make up her own mind and is able to stick to her guns. Obviously that is probably some years away but just some food for thought.
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